"There may be an added obligation of voting on special issues or against persons who support them. For example, if a state attempted to put through a bill authorizing the appropriation of funds for birth prevention literature, methods, facilities, etc., then the citizen would be bound in conscience to oppose such a measure at the poll. If a candidate were known to advocate birth prevention, mercy killing, easy divorce laws, and the like and it were known that he would use his influence to push bills or legislation on such matters, then the citizen would be bound to vote against this candidate."

The whole point is that the citizen must be a man of principle and of intelligent action. The ordinary citizen alone is not powerful, but banded together with the rest of the people he helps to exert a combined force that rules the country. He must see what is right and do what is right, just as much at the polls as at Sunday Mass or at business. Indeed he may even have to sacrifice for the common good. Monsignor Ryan declares that at times the Catholic voter must disregard his economic interests for the sake of religious interests. "If any party were proposing and had the power to enact a law abolishing parochial schools," he cites as an example, "no amount of beneficent economic proposals would be an off-set. it would be the plain duty of the Catholic citizen to vote against the candidates of such a party." And this obviously holds in any danger of great harm to the Church of state." Catholic Principles on Voting, Rev. Fr. Titus Cranny S.A. 1952

"As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person, and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable. Among these the following emerge clearly today:

• - protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death;

• - recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family - as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage - and its defence from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role;
• - the protection of the right of parents to educate their children." Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI, 30 March 2006.

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- La prière, église Saint-Bonnet ( Léon Augustin Lhermitte 1844-1925) (Prayer, Saint Bonnet's Church)

"Some old-fashioned Catholics of long ago, we are told, would genuflect before entering a seat in any sort of auditorium. The incongruity of such an action, especially in a temple of entertainment, must have been amusing to a casual onlooker. The thoughtful man, however, would find something impressive in such an out of place devotion. For its occurrence would argue a solidly established familiarity with the Church and a corresponding lack of acquaintance with the theater and all its kindred.

Habitual though it might be, the bending of the knee by an old-fashioned Catholic before the altar of his God would necessarily be both deep and reverent. He knew that he was bowing in humble adoration before the Lord of all, before the Savior hidden in the tabernacle.

Judging from the genuflections demonstrated in church by some of the modern generation, the presence of our Lord on the altar is not so keenly comprehended. The faint inclination, the hasty dip, the slouchily indifferent bending of the knee can only indicate habit and custom based on little of thought or comprehension. For surely if the careless in this little ritualistic recognition of the Eucharist truly realized the Monarch before Whom they bowed they would at once become careful, devout and reverent. Catholic Transcript."

Source: Our Young People, V.39 #7, July 1930

Behold the fatal cause of the persecutions of the Apostles, and of other Ecclesiastics !

Behold the source of the damnation of innumerable souls, ignorance, wilful and deliberate !

Because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever" (Job. iv. 20).

If people are, in great part, slaves of the devil, it is from want of knowledge : "Therefore is My people led away captive, because they had not knowledge" (Is. v. 13). "Where there is no knowledge of the soul there is no good " (Prov. xix. 2). And we must acknowledge with grief that this ignorance, which is the mother of all vices, springs from the carelessness of Priests, because they neglect to preach the Word of God, which is "living and effectual" (Heb. iv. 12). Justly, therefore, does St. Gregory declare against such priests as render themselves guilty of the ruin of innumerable souls, who are thus lost for want of instruction. We who are called Priests, he says, are guilty of murdering men's souls, for we are the cause of the death of all those whom by our tepidity and silence we allow to go to destruction.

Let us remember what the devil one day said to a French Priest, who was preparing to make a speech at the opening of a synod : " The Rulers of the infernal darkness salute the Rectors of Parish Churches, and thank them for their negligence in teaching the people; because sin is born of ignorance, and damnation is born of sin."

Let us implore the Holy Spirit to bestow on us (priests) a little of that light and zeal which he gave to St. Paul, so that we may be able to say with him, "I am clear from the blood of all men, for I have not spared to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts xx. 26, 27). " By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the Spirit of His mouth." — Pu xxxii. 6. " I will pour out My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy stock' Is xliv. 3.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy : for every day in the year. On the Gospels for the Sundays, Volume 3 (Msgr. Scotti, Archbishop of Thessalonica)

St. Francis de Sales, HNJ Cathedral, Raleigh NC

"(...) the name of Reformed is a blasphemy against Our Lord, who has so perfectly formed and sanctified his Church in his blood, that it must never take other form than of his all lovely Spouse, of pillar and ground of truth. One may reform the nations in particular, but not the Church or religion. She was rightly formed, change of formation is called heresy or irreligion. The tint of Our Saviour's blood is too fair and too bright to require new colours." Source: Catholic Controversy by Bishop St. Francis de Sales, p.204

"Today is a Friday, traditionally a day of fasting and abstinence from meat. Fasting is Apostolic, it expands our ability to love, it casts out demons and brings peace to Holy Church. Fast for the Holy Father, for the bishops, for your pastor, for vocations, for unity, for the dying, the sick, for victims of abuse, for the troubled, for peace, for those suffering through natural disasters. FAST!" Monsignor Ferrari

"I will go peaceably and firmly to the Catholic Church: for if Faith is so important to our salvation, I will seek it where true Faith first began, seek it among those who received it from God Himself." St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Basilica de la santissima annunziata, Florence (Source: wikipedia)

"Passing through a curtain, my eye was struck with hundreds of persons kneeling; but the gloom of the chapel, which is lighted only by the wax tapers on the altar and a small window at the top darkened with green silk, made every object at first appear very indistinct, while that kind of soft and distant music which lifts the mind to a foretaste of heavenly pleasures called up in an instant every dear and tender idea of my soul; and forgetting Mrs. Fillicchi, companions, and all the surrounding scene, I sank on my knees in the first place I found vacant, and shed a torrent of tears at the recollection of how long I had been a stranger in the house of my God, and the accumulated sorrow that had separated me from it. I need not tell you that I said our dear service with my whole soul, as far as in its agitation I could recollect.

When the organ ceased, and Mass was over, we walked round the chapel. The elegance of ceilings in carved gold, altars loaded with gold, silver, and other precious ornaments, pictures of every sacred subject, and the dome a continued representation of different parts of Scripture - all this can never be conceived by description; nor my delight in seeing old men and women, young women and all sorts of people kneeling promiscuously about the altar, as inattentive to us and other passengers as if we were not there." p 131

"High Altar in the Medici Chapel, Florence which particularly impressed Mrs. Seton."

"A sensation of delight struck me so forcibly that as I approached the great altar, formed all of the most precious stones and marbles that could be produced, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior," came in my mind with a fervor which absorbed every other feeling. It recalled the ideas of the offerings of David and Solomon to the Lord, when the rich and valuable productions of nature and art were devoted to His Holy Temple and sanctified to His Service." p 132

"From the commencement of the fifth century, the number of disorderly Christians were so great, that St. Augustine believed himself obliged to warn those pagans of it who wished to become converts, that they might be less surprised and scandalized. The general laxity had crept even among the clergy. St. Jerome says of the ecclesiastics of Rome: "There are among them those who solicit the priesthood or deaconship that they may be able to approach women more freely; all their care consists in adorning their persons with costly and elegant apparel; they use perfumes and curl their hair with irons; rings glitter on their fingers, they walk with an affected gait; you would think them young bridegrooms rather than clergymen."

Source: The United States Catholic Magazine and Monthly Review, Volume 3

Incense, which ever mounts in clouds of perfume up to heaven, is symbolical of prayer: "Let my prayer, O Lord, be directed as incense in Thy sight." The fire, without which incense cannot be used, is the symbol of the Holy Ghost, of Jesus Christ, without whom we cannot pray and gain access to God. The altar is incensed because it represents the divinity of Jesus Christ; and the priest, the ecclesiastics, and the congregation are incensed to honor Jesus Christ, who dwells within the members of His Church in order to render them participants in His eternal life; and the priests are incensed a second time to honor also the Divine Priesthood of Our Lord, in which they share by their sacred character. During this time all should recollect themselves, and renew their resolutions to be ever worthy of their holy vocation. 

Traditional Latin Mass, Sacred Heart Raleigh NC

"All the ancient sacrifices, by which God was so much honored, were but shadows and figures of our sacrifice of the altar. All the honor that angels by their adorations and men by their good works, austerities, and even martyrdroms, have ever rendered or will ever render to God, never could, and never will, give Him so much glory as one single Mass; for, while the honor of all creatures is only finite, that which accrues to God from the holy Sacrifice of the Altar is infinite, inasmuch as the victim which is offered is of infinite value.

The Mass, therefore, offers to God the greatest honor that can be given Him; subdues most triumphantly the powers of hell; affords the greatest relief to the suffering souls in purgatory; appeases most efficaciously the wrath of God against sinners, and brings down the greatest blessings on mankind."

Source: Sacerdos sanctificatus; or, Discourses on the Mass and Office by St. Alphonsus Liguori

Wikipedia

"10. Pray also without ceasing for other men: for there is hope of repentance in them, that they may attain unto God. Let them therefore at least be instructed by your works, if they will be no other way, Be ye mild at their anger; humble at their boasting: to their blasphemies, return your prayers: to their error, your firmness in the faith: when they are cruel, be ye gentle; not endeavoring to imitate their ways: (let us be their brethren in all kindness and moderation, but let us be followers of the Lord; for who was ever more unjustly used? more destitute? more despised?) that so no herb of the devil may be found in you; but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety both of body and spirit, in Christ Jesus.

11. The last times are come upon us: let us therefore be very reverent, and fear the long suffering of God, that it be not to us unto condemnation. For let us either fear the wrath that is to come, or let us love the grace that we at present enjoy; that by the one or other of these, we may be found in Christ Jesus, unto true life. Besides him, let nothing be worthy of you; for whom also I bear about these bonds, those spiritual jewels, in which I would to God that I might arise through your prayers: of which I entreat you to make me always partaker, that I may be found in the lot of the Christians of Ephesus, who have always agreed with the Apostles, through the power of Jesus Christ.

(...)

13. Let it be your care therefore to come more fully together, to the praise and glory of God. For when ye meet fully together in the same place, the powers of the devil are destroyed, and his mischief is dissolved by the unity of your faith. And indeed, nothing is better than peace; by which all war both spiritual and earthly, is abolished.

14. Of all which nothing is hid from you, if ye have perfect faith and charity in Christ Jesus, which are the beginning and end of life. For the beginning is faith; the end charity. And these two joined together, are of God: but all other things which concern a holy life are the consequences of these. No man professing a true faith, sinneth; neither does he who has charity, hate any. The tree is made manifest by its fruit, [Matt. xii, 33] So they who profess themselves to be Christians, are known by what they do. For Christianity is not the work of an outward profession; but shews itself in the power of faith, if a man be found faithful unto the end.

16. Do not be deceived, my brethren. Those who ruin homes will not inherit the kingdom of God. Now, if those who do this to gratify the flesh are liable to death, how much more a man who by evil doctrine ruins the faith in God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such a filthy creature will go into the unquenchable fire, as will anyone that listens to him.

17.The Lord permitted myrrh to be poured on His head that He might breathe incorruption upon the Church. Do not let yourselves be anointed with the malodorous doctrine of the Prince of this world, for fear he may carry you off into captivity, away from the life that is in store for you. Why do we not all become wise, having received knowledge of God, that is Jesus Christ! Why do we perish in folly, failing to appreciate the gift which the Lord has sent us in truth!"